Travel ’ Category

This past weekend Shane and I drove to Kentucky for kind of a last minute trip to see how many bourbon distilleries we could visit in 3 days. If you follow me on instagram you know we did pretty well! We started in Louisville and hit up Frankfort and Lexington, and 7 different distilleries. It was awesome to say the least!

Bulleit Bourbon

It’s only about a 5 hour drive from Chicago to Louisville, so we left bright and early and immediately visited Bulleit, where I was kind of scared that every distillery tour would be about the same and by the end of our weekend I’d be bourbon-ed out. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Each tour we went on was very different because each distillery has a different history and story. And each one was so cool!

Feast – Louisville

After a BBQ break at Feast (thanks @cyanviolet for the rec!), we went to tour #2 at Evan Williams.

Evan Williams

Evan Williams has VIDEO REENACTMENTS, and like historic scenes set up! It was hilarious.

Daniel Boone and the Kentucky State Capitol Building

Day 2 we were off to Frankfort, Kentucky’s capitol, where we swung by to say hi to Daniel Boone, who overlooks the city and capitol building.

Wild Turkey!

We jumped on the 10am tour at Wild Turkey so we were drinking by 11! Pretty ridiculous. Wild Turkey was HUGE and in a really amazingly beautiful location.

Woodford Reserve

But then we went to Woodford Reserve, which was in an even more beautiful location! It’s amazing how so many of these distilleries use a lot of the same buildings they were using in the early 1800s. And just surrounded by horse farms and hills and forest!

Then we wen to Lexington, and after a quick lunch and local beer stop at West 6th Street Brewery (AMAZING!) we hit Town Branch distillery which was meh. Hitting up Mary Todd Lincoln’s house and getting a good dinner made up for it though!

Monday morning on the way back to Chicago we hit up Four Roses which was also really lovely, though we couldn’t see the distillery because a storm rolled through right when we got there.

Buffalo Trace!

But then we found Buffalo Trace, the bourbon Shane and I usually drink, and it was a great way to wrap up our trip. Right in Frankfort, they do almost everything on site so we got to see the like 12 people bottling the bourbon by hand, the original rick houses, and even pick up a few local only bottles.

We had the best time! And we’ve got a STOCKED bar now. Shane is set to move to Lexington so our marriage is probably over but hey. We had a pretty good run.

I’ve been in Michigan for about a week house sitting for my mom. I missed that whole teenage rebellion phase, and totally missed having parties when my mom was out of town and all that, so to make up for it I invited some friends up from Chicago!

Brewery Night!

It’s kind of crazy – when I moved to Chicago Grand Rapids didn’t have a lot going on at all, and here we are 12 years later and it’s like a fun destination city with a million breweries to check out. The weather was fantastic so we sat outside at Founders, hit The Mitten, Brewery Vivant, and Perrin. It was so super fun! And in Grand Rapids, rounds are like $22. LIKE MAGIC!

Midwestern Knits!

I also shot 4 sweaters for Midwestern Knits while we were up there. In this amazing picture Laura snapped, I’m shooting my friend Susan modeling Ann Weaver’s contribution to the book.

Laura & Pete

Here Laura is modeling Hope Vickman’s contribution to Midwestern Knits, with my mom’s llama Pete. Because when you have access to a llama you put him in your knitting book! And I LOVE this picture because it totally looks like Pete and Laura are just chit chatting away!

I’m also super excited to announce that I’m the featured designer in the upcoming Knitscene Summer issue! While I was in Colorado filming how to videos I filmed this little preview promo of the 4 designs I contributed to the issue. Check it out! The issue is out next week, so I’ll be sharing more pictures of each pattern once it launches. I’m really excited about these!

I spent the past few days in Florida soaking in the sun and cleaning off this gross winter.

Shane and Beers

Pretty much as soon as we landed and made our way down to Cape Coral, where Shane’s family lives, we found a bar with a garden and had some beers. I was pretty surprised to find Yuengling was everywhere! I hadn’t had a Yuengling since I was staying in NYC that summer in 2010. It was a very fun perk of our trip!

Poolside Stitching

We stayed with Shane’s cousin Michelle, who has a great pool in her backyard, where we spent a lot of time hanging! And I of course did some poolside stitching.

Beach!

Shane took me to a few beaches, including Captiva and Sanibel. Each was super sunny and breezy and warm and lovely!

Tigers!

We spent the weekend running around, seeing Shane’s family, eating lots of seafood and drinking lots of beers, before heading north on Monday to Lakeland, where the Tigers hold their spring training. We caught a game and it was SO FUN! I absolutely loved it. Everyone there was SUPER into the Tigers, and just huge huge fans. It got me so excited for baseball season to start!

Passed OUT!

Shane was so excited that he took a little nap out on the grass.

Tampa Bay

Then we headed to Tampa for our last night in FL. We had a great beachside dinner, and our hotel had a great pool! I did more stitching and stayed out of the sun as much as possible. My liberal applications of SPF 30 didn’t do much against that sun and I’m a little toasted!

Cafe au Lait – Back Done!

I brought my Holla Knits Knit Along project Cafe au Lait and got a lot done! I finished the back.

Front!

And I’ve almost got one front finished. I hadn’t shared progress pictures of my modified Cafe au Lait since mid February because I haven’t been able to work on it, but I was very happy to be able to pick it up again.

Pretty Little Chicago Progress!

I also make some progress on my Pretty Little Chicago! It’s coming to the point where I’m just filling in a lot of teeny tiny parts (and white barf). It’s looking SO GOOD!

And talk about a quick turn around – I’m off to Michigan tomorrow morning to house sit for my mom, who is now in Florida for a nice weeklong vacation. So I’ll just be frantically catching up today and prepping for my next trip. Whew!

Shane and I are headed to Florida tomorrow morning. I’m not super excited about Florida, but I am excited that sun shines warmth there, as opposed to in Chicago where it’s still STILL still a frozen godless tundra.

Shane has a lot of family living in Florida that I’ve never met, so we’ll be hanging with family, enjoying the sunshine, AND I’ll get to do something I’ve always wanted to do!

Spring Training!

Before heading back to Chicago on Tuesday, we’re catching a Tigers spring training game! Pretty cool right? There might be tears? I’ll have Shane take pics. I’M SO EXCITED!